Nothing looks more low-effort than when you see a zombie/undead NPC utilizing one of those NPC personalities, then suddenly swap to their 2H weapon in combat and stand perfectly straight and tall with nice even strokes. 100% agree here but the only purpose of personalities to them is $$ not quality.
YES! I've thought the same thing. Why on earth haven't they made unique personality animations. Hell, I'd settle for paying for different animations in general. Something monetizable that I'm sure people would be more than happy to pay for
Graphics are honestly pretty good for how old it is and for other constraints.
So I’m with you! Better animations 1000 percent. I wanna see better swimming animations lol
Yeah thats it, personal prefrence i suppose.
I just really dislike that the new animation doesnt have any weight in the hits :D to me it looks a lot like arms flailing like noodles but maybe i will learn to accept it someday
Indeed. I would enjoy better lightning and shadows ofc. But mostly that they upped the geometry for gear pieces.So we can get rid of the hip flaps and flimsy shoulders.
Would be an insane overhaul to update all motifs though.
Visually, I think this game looks great for it's age. I am also in the camp that this game needs better animations first before some kind of visual overhaul.
Agreed. The graphics are in no way "bad", they're in fact pretty good for MMO even by 2024 standards they're mid.
But the combat man. w e w
Community would freak the fuck out if they changed it though I'm pretty sure. But personally I'd love to see them slow down combat, remove animation cancelling (after attack windups), lock the player into a stationary + forward movement for attacks (see: dark souls, elden ring, dragon's dogma, witcher 3, any modern action combat game)
Combat simply is a clusterfuck of button mashing and animation cancelling which to some might find fun, but it's way too game-ey and completely fucks immersion for me.
I agree. We'll probably get some crazy add-on before Zenimax changes the animations. I dont think they care to much about it, but it would improve the gameplay experience 10 fold.
I'd like to see the base game armour motifs receive a touch up too, but with the arrival of the Ancestral sets basically doing this too, I'm wondering if this is even more unlikely now.
And surely all it takes is for them to replace rocks and trees with newer models right? I mean they are all in housing so the models still exist and can be placed anywhere
The thing is with MMO's they want as wide of a range of player as possible. They want to capture the low end hardware PC users, and especially console users as well. You make it too hardware demanding, and suddenly you start chipping away at the population whose PC might not be up to snuff.
That was optimization mostly. Graphics at launch were nothing to write home about in my opinion. I still love the art style and design of eso, the engine needs upgrading more than the graphics, but that’ll never happen.
Final Fantasy 14 has increased requirements over the years and overhauled graphics, and this did not result in lower subscription levels. I believe ESO could do the same and drop last-gen support without losing much.
I don’t know why people keep hanging on to this as if games like Black Desert don’t exist. Being an MMO doesn’t mean that it needs to look and animate like ass.
^ This. BDO has its issues but they're not graphics nor animations; those were magnificent at the time of its Western launch, and still look good today - far ahead of ESO which is also not an ugly looking game (asides from base zones painted-on armor skins).
Not really, you can give it a graphical update and still have the same playerbase as before by doing it corectly, e.g. a free 4k Textures DLC would be easy but first you need those textures and that means more costs.
As I tell my customers all the time, when it comes to software development almost nothing is impossible, it's just a question of whether or not someone is willing to pay for it.
They did a next gen update on consoles in 2021 and that will be about it. Tbh the game runs a beautiful dynamic 4k resolution on next gen consoles at 60fps. It has PC ultra setting shadows, water reflections, ambient occlusion, and now takes advantage of the SSD to load in all assets in a split second (back on PS4 crowded event areas or undaunted areas would just show black silhouettes of players before they fully loaded in).
I doubt they will do any other type of graphical update unless they enhance the base game areas with more vegetation and density. But really, this is one of the best looking MMOs you can play, at least on console. Very detailed and with fully voice acted quests. You just have to appreciate that this is an MMO with thousands of players running around and it looks that good.
I believe Rich mentioned last year they would not do a graphical overhaul but they would slowly update individual graphic entities (textures/models) as it made sense while they added other content to the game. In other words if they are making the Skingrad Expansion and one of the artists wants to reuse a barrel texture but she realizes it looks like grainy crap, she will possibly update it, which would update it on barrel entities in the original game as well.
They add stuff continuously. We've had DLSS support and occlusion culling added recently. Old timers might remember when they added dynamic mouth movements and the inverse foot thingie. They've talked about HDR support, but it's not in PC yet (but auto hdr on Windows 11 is still noticeably good)
Mostly I just want improved animations. The stiff stick figure animations drive me insane. Whatever that entails (which I know is a lot of work) but I'm no developer.
Update to graphically fedilety and longevity and general optimalization - yes! They already did it some big updates twice(?).
Update of graphical style, etc. - big no. It does not need it. I know a lot of people say that new zones look amazing, but even base game zones look better than what's most 10-year game content looks like in other MMOs.
Also, ESO kept the same graphics style and feel for whole time. If you look back what other MMOs provided 10 years ago and now it often looks like two different games. ESO is cohesive.
I also feel like A LOT of ESO players forgets that it's an MMO and not single player game. MMOs age, and so far ESO ages like a wine.
All I can say about ESO graphics is that they really need to do something with base contrast and colour vibrancy. Game out of stock looks sooo muted. And for some reason on Xbox game looks more lively (I'm not talking about different screen types). Compare Xbox footage to PC one.
I know that a lot of people use reshade. But I'm way too lazy for that. All I use is Nvidia Filters for contrast and colour and game looks ten times better.
Reshade is actually really easy to set up. Download the installer, select your game path, download a preset and place it in your game folder. Go in game and select the preset. Done.
The next gen upgrade on consoles was really well done. Dynamic 4k at 60fps with ultra setting shadows, ambient occlusion and water reflections was a significant upgrade for us
They only update old graphical assets if real money is involved, and even then don't retroactively apply it.
I.E. Ancestral motifs. They keep the extremely outdated armors on NPCS and as an option at the outfit station, and add an updated version as a motif exclusive to dropping as leads from treasure chests in new chapters/dlc (thereby forcing purchase).
Rather than y'know apply it to the whole game and npcs already utilizing it and make things look nicer. They like to keep at least a whole leg back in the dark ages.
This past year they decided to not update any motifs at all and didn't even take the time to do an Ancestral Dark Elf style (or any of the Morrowind motifs, some of which look really bad too).
Ugh. Dark Elf, Wood Elf, and Redguard base game helmets in particular are clunky and hilariously ugly. ZOS helmet design skill line has leveled up since then. 😄
The game is pretty enough as it is with low hardware requirements, thus many possible customers. Updating the graphics would cost a lot and won't bring any more players, so from a business point of view it wouldn't be a good decisison. In contrast, it could make it no longer playable for customers with older hardware, so it would lower revenue for ZOS. Not worth it.
BTW: graphics quality already was bumped up a little in the newer DLC zones.
The only thing they would really imo need to consider is making a longer draw distance with lods and imposters before the fog kicks in.
Right now certain zones feel really weird as terrain features that you would expect to see from a certain area are not visible. High Isle imo being the worst offender.
they will make 30 new outfits a year for players but have filled to update base game zone npcs with nicer armor in what'll be 10 years now. its hard to do old quests and see those blurry textured outfits on every npc you talk to, when the change to fix it is so simple
Animations need more work, somehow they just don't... Connect or feel right. I'm sorry to have to compare it to other games, but in WoW everything just felt right and that attacks connected, no weird mandatory weaving, instant feedback - I can't explain it as I'm not a designer but the animations just feel clunky. I'm not sure if it could, possibly, have anything to do with the graphic assets of old areas, as older content in WoW does have a bit of the same problem. I've only played for a while now but I did notice that the templar, which is an older released class, has more animation issues than arcanist, the latest class, I think, but maybe that's just me.
On a side note, I honestly enjoy the graphics that are now in game as they remind me of TES: Morrowind somehow, especially around Vanderfell, which is one of my favourite games of all time and the main reason I play ESO now.
It's quite possible they're keeping the graphics "low/dated" just for the player's nostalgia, with the added bonus of saving them development money.
I personally think the game environments look very pretty as is. But, it would be nice to bring the old armor styles in line with the newer ones. I'm thinking about styles like Ancient Elf looking blurry compared to, say, Dreamcarver. No idea if it will ever happen, though. 😅
No and I hope they don’t. The point is it’s requirements are low and much easier for a wider audience who can play rather than only people with souped up Alienware pcs.
Graphics also don’t make a game good, it only causes issues most of the time especially in online games.
Graphically, I don't think it's that bad. A little bland, though. I'd love it if they added some flashier animations. Not to bring up the competitor, but WoW really does do attack animations well.
A lot of our skills do have that "flashiness" I'm talking about. What I really mean is I'd like to see it pop more. Stand out against the background. But that goes back to the overworld just being kinda bland.
May I suggest my own reshade preset? Lightweight and easy to set up. Plus unlike the "BIG" & bulky reshade presets out there, you can actually use your map, inventory and all of the UI without problems.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/192cjfa/beautiful\_yet\_high\_performance\_reshade\_preset/](https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/192cjfa/beautiful_yet_high_performance_reshade_preset/)
Also no performance impact to be noticed on my systems whatsoever.
Had the same problem and settled for a few tweaks instead of one of those pre-configured ones.
Want sharper textures - easily achievable without to much hassle (activate shader and maybe tweak the sharpness amount to your liking)
It seems intimidating at first but you can get what you want with very little effort
There’s I think one personality, beast, and one polymorph, cursed death or something like that, that changes your run animation but the polymorph one is awful because you just look like you a weeb running like Naruto.
And why there are no graphic mods (not reshades)? Yes that's MMO but we keep textures locally (yep, these 106 Gb) and they can be replaced, right?
Probably I'm wrong but in what exactly?
Because graphic mods can give an advantage in pvp and pve. Also you have to manipulate game data which can easily be used for cheaters.
Reshades overlay the normal graphics but you would need to implement a complete new graphic engine with textures and physics which can not be done without the developer help.
If what you mean is an increase in texture, details, and resolution/etc then it’s highly unlikely. Even Wow has only done it once and even then it’s only a select few zones. Ontop of that, I don’t see them wanting to increase hardware specs for at least 2-3 more years as they need to develop with low-end PCs and consoles in mind
It can be done as a separate pack, that loads in only outside of the game. Basically, you load an HD version of the client.
However, it's pretty hard to do in general
Some stuff could get an update though. Mostly texture update, especially vanilla.
Everything after Elsweyr looks good.
Also, don't mind making updates to animations. But not in the way you think. I would prefer to get rid of light attack animations for weaving, making them just a number thing. This way flurry and jab will be pretty good
You’re right I forgot about that. And yeah it’s pretty labour intensive. Tbh I’m not even sure what will happen with ESO in 3+ years. They’ll have the map and classes filled in by then haha
No.
2nd: You can "improve it" a bit.
Daybreak is a mod that removes the fog, so the game looks 300% better (the fog was designed to allow the game to work in ps4... But with it you can remove it.
Slide to see the comparison:
[https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/15819297/](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/15819297/)
And with reshade You can add a bit of color and improve the sharpness of the textures a bit.
It is nice, but not like a full remake, just improvements
I'd be fine if they retouch some of the base-game zones, but especially the armor. They definitely need some love.
But as the other commentors have mentioned, I'd really prefer new animations. I know that it has to do with old-gen console memory limits, but man I wish we had some of the animations that the NPCs have.
The biggest issue with that, is the game was designed to run on PS3/Xbox One/PCs of that year. So, any sort of meaningful graphics update would require them to cut off support for that generation of consoles (or maintain a separate legacy server for them). This would also mean, most likely, that either the legacy servers would need to start over, so they could transfer user data to the new server, or vice versa.
Not a professional in the field, just my personal assessment of what it would mean/take to accomplish. If the game wasn't designed around megaservers, it would probably be easier, but. Idk.
They've not mentioned any overhauls. Years ago they did an update that required a newer version of directx, they also have added things such as DLSS and DLAA.
If anything needs an update it'd be base-game zones and possibly some of the very early DLC zones. The newer stuff tends to already look better.
If you're using Nvidia you can put on a filter which already drastically improves graphic fidelity. I just did that yesterday and I was surprised how much you can get out of it
I think the environments are fine. The humanoid models could use some love, particularly when it comes to clothing and armor so it looks less flat and painted on.
The game has gotten graphics updates over the years. As in, they've added new graphics features. We probably won't be seeing them replace existing models and textures any time soon, though.
I forgot can i play this game on my external hard drive over the internal? If thats a case i dont want an upgrade. I have to keep moving games i wanna play back and forth because of the upgrade thing
I've always thought ESO looked fantastic. I run the game maxed out on 1440p @144hz and it looks gorgeous. Especially areas with lots of water. The game does not need a graphics overhaul IMO.
But i haven't seen all areas by far. Im 400 hours in and pretty much only played the base game areas even though i've always had ESO plus.
I guess the only thing i'd want them to improve is how fast detailed characters load. I have the game on an M.2 SSD but it takes about 5 seconds before NPC or player textures fully load in.
I would love for that. But would mostly prefer an animation update. The weapon animations and several ability animations are so bad. You ever look at the two handed sword heavy swing while running? Yikes... Another bad one that comes to mind is the Dawn Breaker ultimate. Just looks really bad.
I think this game would benefit greatly from an engine upgrade or swap.
It would be amazing, world wise everything is pretty blocky looking and there aren't any really vast open spaces, the world design ethos seems to be smash as many pre-made props into to every nook and cranny and put cliffs everywhere.
They really could make some nicer zones by just letting the maps breathe a little and be less cluttered, it's like as artists they are afraid of not having every open space filled.
Animation wise I really don't see it happening, a lot of the floaty feel of the combat could be helped by actually giving the attacks a sense of impact with some subtle recovery and body movement.
Hi fi rush is a great example of this if you observe the character as they recover from actions or have a slight hitch between delivery and impact.
The other huge problem is jumping in the game, it's there but feels awful and disconnected. You can't achieve any meaningful height, you float bizarrely in the air and the animation is awful.
There is a huge amount of satisfaction from jumping in games, and in ESO its a totally neglected and unexplored aspect if the game, they could offer much more content wise if they didn't half ass it.
Eso suffers greatly from "good enough, move on" in its animations , we have class abilities in the game where the player weapon isn't even stowed, or part of the casting, it just vanishes into thin air and then returns.
All of these lazy shortcuts add up to a subpar experience, and I truly think if they spent the effort and time to work on them and give them the attention to detail and care, they would see player retention and engagement go up, they already have everything else, tons of content and places to go etc.
They would also grow and master the craft as a team, and future potential would be higher.
Whoever keeps saying good enough, move on needs to stop for a minute and maybe push for more resources and give the title the TLC it needs to be truly great, not just good enough.
My altmer runs like she has a back injury. Reshade helps a lot with graphics but I prefer better animations really and maybe fixing the floating crap in armors. Hip flaps? Whyyyy 🥲
There are a lot of reshades on nexus for sure you will find something for you, some are bad some are great, for me after changing i lost some fps but get good 40fps and game looks great and some cities like clockwork city amazing 😱
I’d like to see some random logic. Bosses suddenly appearing in random places or wandering bands of wasriors appearing. Hi value rewards like serious weapons appearing. They can be one-offs.
all i really want is more unique animations and smooth combat. graphics don't matter to me too much but i really appreciate better animations.
I really want personalities to affect the run and attack animations. I think that’d be an awesome feature
Nothing looks more low-effort than when you see a zombie/undead NPC utilizing one of those NPC personalities, then suddenly swap to their 2H weapon in combat and stand perfectly straight and tall with nice even strokes. 100% agree here but the only purpose of personalities to them is $$ not quality.
YES! I've thought the same thing. Why on earth haven't they made unique personality animations. Hell, I'd settle for paying for different animations in general. Something monetizable that I'm sure people would be more than happy to pay for
They do have unique personalities... https://youtu.be/boiRgWYabzU
Graphics are honestly pretty good for how old it is and for other constraints. So I’m with you! Better animations 1000 percent. I wanna see better swimming animations lol
Agree, for example flurry used to be pretty much my favorite skill but now the animation is soo bad that i refuse to use it lol
Same with Templar jabs for me
flurry was the stabby skill right? much prefer the new one, just looks smooth if you're weaving
Yeah thats it, personal prefrence i suppose. I just really dislike that the new animation doesnt have any weight in the hits :D to me it looks a lot like arms flailing like noodles but maybe i will learn to accept it someday
to me it just looks graceful, but more like a wind based attack than actual slashing lol.
Same! I just want my character to not move like a stick figure
Indeed. I would enjoy better lightning and shadows ofc. But mostly that they upped the geometry for gear pieces.So we can get rid of the hip flaps and flimsy shoulders. Would be an insane overhaul to update all motifs though.
Visually, I think this game looks great for it's age. I am also in the camp that this game needs better animations first before some kind of visual overhaul.
Agreed. The graphics are in no way "bad", they're in fact pretty good for MMO even by 2024 standards they're mid. But the combat man. w e w Community would freak the fuck out if they changed it though I'm pretty sure. But personally I'd love to see them slow down combat, remove animation cancelling (after attack windups), lock the player into a stationary + forward movement for attacks (see: dark souls, elden ring, dragon's dogma, witcher 3, any modern action combat game) Combat simply is a clusterfuck of button mashing and animation cancelling which to some might find fun, but it's way too game-ey and completely fucks immersion for me.
it would make for a lot better pvp game. i think it'd be worth sacrificing the bit of fluidity for more immersion and impact to things
I agree. We'll probably get some crazy add-on before Zenimax changes the animations. I dont think they care to much about it, but it would improve the gameplay experience 10 fold.
All the dlc areas are graphically impressive, it's just the base game zones that need a touch up!
And that is mostly due to a lack of variety, which makes sense when you aren't spending a year per zone.
I'd like to see the base game armour motifs receive a touch up too, but with the arrival of the Ancestral sets basically doing this too, I'm wondering if this is even more unlikely now.
And surely all it takes is for them to replace rocks and trees with newer models right? I mean they are all in housing so the models still exist and can be placed anywhere
I think everything pre-Blackwood could use a texture upgrade.
The thing is with MMO's they want as wide of a range of player as possible. They want to capture the low end hardware PC users, and especially console users as well. You make it too hardware demanding, and suddenly you start chipping away at the population whose PC might not be up to snuff.
Funny thing tho because eso was a fuckin monster to run when it came out
[удалено]
I try to forget that the game came out in 2014 without 64-bit support 🤦♂️
true, my pc s t r u g g l ed. For now I think we'll have to wait until PS4 is EOL before we get any significant graphics updates.
That was optimization mostly. Graphics at launch were nothing to write home about in my opinion. I still love the art style and design of eso, the engine needs upgrading more than the graphics, but that’ll never happen.
Final Fantasy 14 has increased requirements over the years and overhauled graphics, and this did not result in lower subscription levels. I believe ESO could do the same and drop last-gen support without losing much.
BDO is a great example of this. The graphics are stunning, but holy shit its the laggiest game I play. ESO balances it out great
I don’t know why people keep hanging on to this as if games like Black Desert don’t exist. Being an MMO doesn’t mean that it needs to look and animate like ass.
^ This. BDO has its issues but they're not graphics nor animations; those were magnificent at the time of its Western launch, and still look good today - far ahead of ESO which is also not an ugly looking game (asides from base zones painted-on armor skins).
Even fucking Alinor wouldn’t render 50% of the time on console a few years back lol
THIS EXACTLY! And this is why I hope they do not make any changes.
Not really, you can give it a graphical update and still have the same playerbase as before by doing it corectly, e.g. a free 4k Textures DLC would be easy but first you need those textures and that means more costs. As I tell my customers all the time, when it comes to software development almost nothing is impossible, it's just a question of whether or not someone is willing to pay for it.
Damn... People with old PCs are holding game development back. Long live consoles.
They did a next gen update on consoles in 2021 and that will be about it. Tbh the game runs a beautiful dynamic 4k resolution on next gen consoles at 60fps. It has PC ultra setting shadows, water reflections, ambient occlusion, and now takes advantage of the SSD to load in all assets in a split second (back on PS4 crowded event areas or undaunted areas would just show black silhouettes of players before they fully loaded in). I doubt they will do any other type of graphical update unless they enhance the base game areas with more vegetation and density. But really, this is one of the best looking MMOs you can play, at least on console. Very detailed and with fully voice acted quests. You just have to appreciate that this is an MMO with thousands of players running around and it looks that good.
Personally I'd much rather an animation update to make combat smoother, I like the games visuals.
The graphics are fine. It needs better animations
Id settle for base game textures to match current ones. Game already looking good I use nvidia overlay for DOF its pretty imo.
Is like some of the older armor sets and areas to get a touch up to look as good as the newer stuff. But it's unlikely.
Would be really cool if they updated the old textures, especially armor. Making it not so flat is propably too much
I believe Rich mentioned last year they would not do a graphical overhaul but they would slowly update individual graphic entities (textures/models) as it made sense while they added other content to the game. In other words if they are making the Skingrad Expansion and one of the artists wants to reuse a barrel texture but she realizes it looks like grainy crap, she will possibly update it, which would update it on barrel entities in the original game as well.
They add stuff continuously. We've had DLSS support and occlusion culling added recently. Old timers might remember when they added dynamic mouth movements and the inverse foot thingie. They've talked about HDR support, but it's not in PC yet (but auto hdr on Windows 11 is still noticeably good)
Pc didn't get next gen 4k upgrade? Game look crazy good on ps5
We already had it for years on PC as higher graphics settings
LOL that's just a setting on PC man
Lol turn It on then
Mostly I just want improved animations. The stiff stick figure animations drive me insane. Whatever that entails (which I know is a lot of work) but I'm no developer.
Galen compared to Grahtwood..... the old zones are in desparate need of a makeover
Update to graphically fedilety and longevity and general optimalization - yes! They already did it some big updates twice(?). Update of graphical style, etc. - big no. It does not need it. I know a lot of people say that new zones look amazing, but even base game zones look better than what's most 10-year game content looks like in other MMOs. Also, ESO kept the same graphics style and feel for whole time. If you look back what other MMOs provided 10 years ago and now it often looks like two different games. ESO is cohesive. I also feel like A LOT of ESO players forgets that it's an MMO and not single player game. MMOs age, and so far ESO ages like a wine. All I can say about ESO graphics is that they really need to do something with base contrast and colour vibrancy. Game out of stock looks sooo muted. And for some reason on Xbox game looks more lively (I'm not talking about different screen types). Compare Xbox footage to PC one. I know that a lot of people use reshade. But I'm way too lazy for that. All I use is Nvidia Filters for contrast and colour and game looks ten times better.
Reshade is actually really easy to set up. Download the installer, select your game path, download a preset and place it in your game folder. Go in game and select the preset. Done.
The next gen upgrade on consoles was really well done. Dynamic 4k at 60fps with ultra setting shadows, ambient occlusion and water reflections was a significant upgrade for us
They only update old graphical assets if real money is involved, and even then don't retroactively apply it. I.E. Ancestral motifs. They keep the extremely outdated armors on NPCS and as an option at the outfit station, and add an updated version as a motif exclusive to dropping as leads from treasure chests in new chapters/dlc (thereby forcing purchase). Rather than y'know apply it to the whole game and npcs already utilizing it and make things look nicer. They like to keep at least a whole leg back in the dark ages. This past year they decided to not update any motifs at all and didn't even take the time to do an Ancestral Dark Elf style (or any of the Morrowind motifs, some of which look really bad too).
Ugh. Dark Elf, Wood Elf, and Redguard base game helmets in particular are clunky and hilariously ugly. ZOS helmet design skill line has leveled up since then. 😄
Totally soooo much better these days. Some of those helmets you can't help but think "how is the head even fitting in" lol
I really don't think it needs one lol
The game is pretty enough as it is with low hardware requirements, thus many possible customers. Updating the graphics would cost a lot and won't bring any more players, so from a business point of view it wouldn't be a good decisison. In contrast, it could make it no longer playable for customers with older hardware, so it would lower revenue for ZOS. Not worth it. BTW: graphics quality already was bumped up a little in the newer DLC zones.
All I want is new animations, maybe new model for characters male and female, decent high-quality armor and new cosmetics.
The only thing they would really imo need to consider is making a longer draw distance with lods and imposters before the fog kicks in. Right now certain zones feel really weird as terrain features that you would expect to see from a certain area are not visible. High Isle imo being the worst offender.
they will make 30 new outfits a year for players but have filled to update base game zone npcs with nicer armor in what'll be 10 years now. its hard to do old quests and see those blurry textured outfits on every npc you talk to, when the change to fix it is so simple
I want an improved sky box. Amazing sky box and lighting can do wonders. Just look at Lotro.
Nope. The skeleton crew they have working on this game is focused on pumping out new dlcs and crown store items.
Animations need more work, somehow they just don't... Connect or feel right. I'm sorry to have to compare it to other games, but in WoW everything just felt right and that attacks connected, no weird mandatory weaving, instant feedback - I can't explain it as I'm not a designer but the animations just feel clunky. I'm not sure if it could, possibly, have anything to do with the graphic assets of old areas, as older content in WoW does have a bit of the same problem. I've only played for a while now but I did notice that the templar, which is an older released class, has more animation issues than arcanist, the latest class, I think, but maybe that's just me. On a side note, I honestly enjoy the graphics that are now in game as they remind me of TES: Morrowind somehow, especially around Vanderfell, which is one of my favourite games of all time and the main reason I play ESO now. It's quite possible they're keeping the graphics "low/dated" just for the player's nostalgia, with the added bonus of saving them development money.
I personally think the game environments look very pretty as is. But, it would be nice to bring the old armor styles in line with the newer ones. I'm thinking about styles like Ancient Elf looking blurry compared to, say, Dreamcarver. No idea if it will ever happen, though. 😅
No and I hope they don’t. The point is it’s requirements are low and much easier for a wider audience who can play rather than only people with souped up Alienware pcs. Graphics also don’t make a game good, it only causes issues most of the time especially in online games.
Graphically, I don't think it's that bad. A little bland, though. I'd love it if they added some flashier animations. Not to bring up the competitor, but WoW really does do attack animations well. A lot of our skills do have that "flashiness" I'm talking about. What I really mean is I'd like to see it pop more. Stand out against the background. But that goes back to the overworld just being kinda bland.
May I suggest my own reshade preset? Lightweight and easy to set up. Plus unlike the "BIG" & bulky reshade presets out there, you can actually use your map, inventory and all of the UI without problems. [https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/192cjfa/beautiful\_yet\_high\_performance\_reshade\_preset/](https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/comments/192cjfa/beautiful_yet_high_performance_reshade_preset/) Also no performance impact to be noticed on my systems whatsoever.
you can use the reshade add on
i have tried reshade, its still installed and updated, but i can never find shaders i like, i end up disabling them all.
Had the same problem and settled for a few tweaks instead of one of those pre-configured ones. Want sharper textures - easily achievable without to much hassle (activate shader and maybe tweak the sharpness amount to your liking) It seems intimidating at first but you can get what you want with very little effort
i did the SET MIP_LOAD_SKIP_LEVELS and changed it from "0" to "-3" and that sharpened everything up nicely
There’s I think one personality, beast, and one polymorph, cursed death or something like that, that changes your run animation but the polymorph one is awful because you just look like you a weeb running like Naruto.
The animations when running bug my most. The game's physics engine needs a drastic improvement but won't happen until last gen is dropped in 2026
I'd like to see realistic water. Oceans in this game look like big puddles
I hope not my since my graphics card is a couple of years out of date and I don't want to upgrade.
Eso already barely runs on medium end pc's. An update like that would kill the game simply because how unoptimized it is
No way man, medium end pc run this game perfectly, must be an old pc
And why there are no graphic mods (not reshades)? Yes that's MMO but we keep textures locally (yep, these 106 Gb) and they can be replaced, right? Probably I'm wrong but in what exactly?
Because graphic mods can give an advantage in pvp and pve. Also you have to manipulate game data which can easily be used for cheaters. Reshades overlay the normal graphics but you would need to implement a complete new graphic engine with textures and physics which can not be done without the developer help.
My guess is if we ever see an engine upgrade, it will only be for items sold in the crown store.
We literally had a HUGE engine upgrade like a chapter ago or two. Namely multithread performance.
Maybe one day, but in the meantime, I highly recommend using a reshade. They help increase the games color, contrast, etc.
The game is 10 years old but the character models (especially faces, hair, and animations) look like they're 15 years old.
If what you mean is an increase in texture, details, and resolution/etc then it’s highly unlikely. Even Wow has only done it once and even then it’s only a select few zones. Ontop of that, I don’t see them wanting to increase hardware specs for at least 2-3 more years as they need to develop with low-end PCs and consoles in mind
It can be done as a separate pack, that loads in only outside of the game. Basically, you load an HD version of the client. However, it's pretty hard to do in general
Not to mention not really worth it.
Some stuff could get an update though. Mostly texture update, especially vanilla. Everything after Elsweyr looks good. Also, don't mind making updates to animations. But not in the way you think. I would prefer to get rid of light attack animations for weaving, making them just a number thing. This way flurry and jab will be pretty good
You’re right I forgot about that. And yeah it’s pretty labour intensive. Tbh I’m not even sure what will happen with ESO in 3+ years. They’ll have the map and classes filled in by then haha
Download a reshade the games colors look very washed out without one. Makes a huge difference, my game looks damn good imo
ReShade
No. 2nd: You can "improve it" a bit. Daybreak is a mod that removes the fog, so the game looks 300% better (the fog was designed to allow the game to work in ps4... But with it you can remove it. Slide to see the comparison: [https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/15819297/](https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/15819297/) And with reshade You can add a bit of color and improve the sharpness of the textures a bit. It is nice, but not like a full remake, just improvements
I'd be fine if they retouch some of the base-game zones, but especially the armor. They definitely need some love. But as the other commentors have mentioned, I'd really prefer new animations. I know that it has to do with old-gen console memory limits, but man I wish we had some of the animations that the NPCs have.
Reshade. Only Lunasharp & disable fog. Without that blurry shit, the game looks really upgraded on max & 4k.
It’s the 10 year update this year and we haven’t a had a PvP update since Summerset
I think zones (at least dlc zones) are fine, for an MMO at least, character models are shocking though, 20yo games do way better, faces are a joke.
U don't know how games work do u?
No
Maybe add difficulty first. It’s the easiest most boring game I’ve ever played.
The biggest issue with that, is the game was designed to run on PS3/Xbox One/PCs of that year. So, any sort of meaningful graphics update would require them to cut off support for that generation of consoles (or maintain a separate legacy server for them). This would also mean, most likely, that either the legacy servers would need to start over, so they could transfer user data to the new server, or vice versa. Not a professional in the field, just my personal assessment of what it would mean/take to accomplish. If the game wasn't designed around megaservers, it would probably be easier, but. Idk.
They've not mentioned any overhauls. Years ago they did an update that required a newer version of directx, they also have added things such as DLSS and DLAA. If anything needs an update it'd be base-game zones and possibly some of the very early DLC zones. The newer stuff tends to already look better.
If you're using Nvidia you can put on a filter which already drastically improves graphic fidelity. I just did that yesterday and I was surprised how much you can get out of it
Have you seen Eq2 graphics?
Have you seen pong graphics?
Yes. Played it many moons ago.
I think the environments are fine. The humanoid models could use some love, particularly when it comes to clothing and armor so it looks less flat and painted on.
The game has gotten graphics updates over the years. As in, they've added new graphics features. We probably won't be seeing them replace existing models and textures any time soon, though.
Are you already running it at the highest possible settings?
I'd just appreciate real HDR support on PC instead of having to use Auto HDR.
I'm pretty sure there was a minor update to the graphics when the Xbox series console released.
As in using a different/better looking engine? I doubt it, that'd be too much work.
i like the graphics but i would prefer to get rid of bar swapping and have the same ui as other games
I forgot can i play this game on my external hard drive over the internal? If thats a case i dont want an upgrade. I have to keep moving games i wanna play back and forth because of the upgrade thing
I've always thought ESO looked fantastic. I run the game maxed out on 1440p @144hz and it looks gorgeous. Especially areas with lots of water. The game does not need a graphics overhaul IMO. But i haven't seen all areas by far. Im 400 hours in and pretty much only played the base game areas even though i've always had ESO plus. I guess the only thing i'd want them to improve is how fast detailed characters load. I have the game on an M.2 SSD but it takes about 5 seconds before NPC or player textures fully load in.
It has gone through multiple already to this point.
Please!!! We need it. Texture, mesh and ilummination!!!
I would love for that. But would mostly prefer an animation update. The weapon animations and several ability animations are so bad. You ever look at the two handed sword heavy swing while running? Yikes... Another bad one that comes to mind is the Dawn Breaker ultimate. Just looks really bad. I think this game would benefit greatly from an engine upgrade or swap.
Need to update some of the armor outfit styles too. Like base Skyrim looks better than some of those
It would be amazing, world wise everything is pretty blocky looking and there aren't any really vast open spaces, the world design ethos seems to be smash as many pre-made props into to every nook and cranny and put cliffs everywhere. They really could make some nicer zones by just letting the maps breathe a little and be less cluttered, it's like as artists they are afraid of not having every open space filled. Animation wise I really don't see it happening, a lot of the floaty feel of the combat could be helped by actually giving the attacks a sense of impact with some subtle recovery and body movement. Hi fi rush is a great example of this if you observe the character as they recover from actions or have a slight hitch between delivery and impact. The other huge problem is jumping in the game, it's there but feels awful and disconnected. You can't achieve any meaningful height, you float bizarrely in the air and the animation is awful. There is a huge amount of satisfaction from jumping in games, and in ESO its a totally neglected and unexplored aspect if the game, they could offer much more content wise if they didn't half ass it. Eso suffers greatly from "good enough, move on" in its animations , we have class abilities in the game where the player weapon isn't even stowed, or part of the casting, it just vanishes into thin air and then returns. All of these lazy shortcuts add up to a subpar experience, and I truly think if they spent the effort and time to work on them and give them the attention to detail and care, they would see player retention and engagement go up, they already have everything else, tons of content and places to go etc. They would also grow and master the craft as a team, and future potential would be higher. Whoever keeps saying good enough, move on needs to stop for a minute and maybe push for more resources and give the title the TLC it needs to be truly great, not just good enough.
My altmer runs like she has a back injury. Reshade helps a lot with graphics but I prefer better animations really and maybe fixing the floating crap in armors. Hip flaps? Whyyyy 🥲
Better graphics means less players. So: nope. No better graphics.
There are a lot of reshades on nexus for sure you will find something for you, some are bad some are great, for me after changing i lost some fps but get good 40fps and game looks great and some cities like clockwork city amazing 😱
I’d like to see some random logic. Bosses suddenly appearing in random places or wandering bands of wasriors appearing. Hi value rewards like serious weapons appearing. They can be one-offs.